November 2015

Greetings!

This letter is being sent two ways. One way is through MailChimp, which will our new format. The other is in the body of the email, along with an attachment and a link to the website.

I recently wrote an essay about a trip to the village. You can find it on the website. If you have Twitter or Linkedin, you can see some recent pictures posted there about life in Madagascar. My Twitter handle is @JPaulHostetler.

In September and October ,we had an unexpected break from trips to Ambohimahatsinjo. Finally, we resumed our trips, and have made more progress in the Bible Institute.

In October, I continued the series on the Lord’s prayer, and preached on adultery. One mother said that the sermon has helped her son. Her son, who is early twenties, lives in another part of the country, but was visiting during that time. Basic biblical teaching has given him encouragement, and strengthened him to resist temptation. Culturally it is taboo to talk about intimate relationships publicly, and Ernest told me that after I had preached. He also said that we must preach it because the Bible teaches it.

We have developed an exit stategy for the work in Ambohimahatsinjo. We will be finishing the doctrines lessons shortly, and then teaching some courses on ministry. In May, we will have a graduation, Lord willing and Ordination, and a building dedication. That will bring our work in Ambohimahatsinjo to a close, but we will visit every six months or so. It is exciting to be at this point with the church out there.

Once things have been turned over in May, we will then be working on a church plant closer to our house. We are already praying about an area, writing a budget, and planning how the church will be launched. We are excited about this new project. It will be a huge blessing to be working with Bro. Ernest and his family. We will be sharing the preaching responsibilities, and I will be preaching in Malagasy at that point.

Please pray with us for the following things:

-The transition in Ambohimahatsinjo and strength for the national pastor
-Continued language acquisition
-Wisdom in where to start the next church
-Continued spiritual growth in the church in Ambohimahatsinjo